Why I wrote a book about homecoming mums

audio version

transcript

Yeah, so why did I write a book about the homecoming mum tradition in Texas? Reasonable question.

The subject matter compelled me to write about it. The first time I took photographs of a group of women making mums together, I knew there was something there. This particular group was making mums to sell as a gigantic fundraiser for the local high school marching band.

“the quilting bee” © Amy J. Schultz (photo presented in black & white to give it a nostalgic look)

Several things struck me. First, not every woman was good at crafting, but everyone found a way to contribute to the cause (including me—I cut ribbon into equal lengths). Second, although the women were very different from one another, they all were there to support a student who meant a lot to them. Noteworthy (to me, anyway) was that not a single student, band member, or man was involved in the herculean effort, which instead fell entirely on moms, aunts, grandmothers, and other adult women.

“eleven months out of the year” © Amy J. Schultz (photo presented in black & white to give it a nostalgic look)

Then there were the feelings I experienced which I didn’t expect. The camaraderie was palpable as the group pulled together for a common goal. It had the vibes of a barn raising or quilting bee from generations past. Because the group was made up entirely of women, there was also something sorority-like about the scene, and it took me back to my own college years of staying up half the night in the chapter room with my sisters, getting decorations ready for bid day or Parents Weekend or the homecoming parade.

These loosely-connected impressions came together after I showed my photographs to a mentor, the director of an art gallery and an artist herself. Her feedback was that I had something, but probably only 10% of something. In that moment it was clear I had a long-term photography project on my hands.

When I knew I had a full book came later when the scale of it all truly sunk in. Women, whether in groups or individually, were making mums for kids every single year, in every town, all over the state of Texas. Women, not kids, were and are keeping the tradition alive, because that’s what women do. And Texas is a really, really big place.

Read more in Capturing Culture, an interview with my publisher Atmosphere Press